CLEVELAND — The Miami RedHawks are picked to finish atop the 2024 Mid-American Conference regular season standings, and 10 of the 12 head coaches chose Miami to win the conference championship.
The RedHawks received 119 points in the MAC preseason poll and were followed by Toledo with 109.
Bowling Green and Northern Illinois were tied for third with 92 points, followed by Ohio (81 points), Eastern Michigan (64 points), Western Michigan (60 points), Central Michigan (59 points), Ball State (42 points), Buffalo (37 points), Akron (24 points) and Kent State (13 points).
“As always in MAC play, the difference between winning and losing is one or two plays,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said during MAC Media Day on Friday. “Very few games are blowouts in our league, which makes our league so exciting.
“Obviously, our nonleague schedule is very, very, very challenging.”
Martin said his program is the only team in the country to start the first three games of the 2024 season against Power 5 opponents — at Northwestern (Aug. 31), Cincinnati (Sept. 14) and at Notre Dame (Sept. 21).
“Two of the three we got last time, so we’ll get their best shot, too,” Martin said of victories over Northwestern (17-14) in 2022 and Cincinnati (31-24, OT) in 2023. “We’ve got an exciting schedule. We’re looking to teeing it up here pretty quickly.”
Miami returns 13 starters from last season’s squad that went 11-3 overall, including a conference championship and a trip to the Cure Bowl.
Martin said the MAC combining its two divisions is going to make the conference “even more chaotic to try to sort through who’s doing what and who’s not doing what. It will be interesting — the first time without East and West.”
Miami doesn’t play Akron in 2024, even though the two programs have met every season Martin has been head coach. Martin is entering his 11th year at the helm.
“It’s kind of like we’ve joined the MAC West because we’re playing all of their teams and none of our teams,” Martin said. “It will be an exciting year of great scheduling and be a lot of close games.
“Our league has always been that way for years and years. No one dominates our league.”
Northern Illinois was the last team to win back-to-back MAC championships (2011-2012).
“It shows the quality of our league — the parity of our league,” Martin said. “It’s exciting football every week. You have to come ready to play. Particularly those road games are very difficult to win in this league no matter who you’re playing.”
Miami quarterback Brett Gabbert and linebacker Matt Salopek, both sixth-year seniors, were invited to MAC Media Day to represent the RedHawks.
Gabbert, who sits third in program history with 7,893 passing yards and 8,375 total yards, is returning from last year’s season-ending leg injury. His 59 career touchdown passes trail only Ben Roethlisberger (84) and Zac Dysert (73).
Salopek won the MAC Defensive Player of the Year last season and ranks 11th in program history with 392 career tackles. He could become the first RedHawk to record four straight 100-tackle seasons.
“We’ve got a great nucleus led by Matt and Brett here today,” Martin said. “They’ve been here a long time. They’ve played a lot of football. They’ve helped us win a lot of games. They’re two great players.“But there’s a lot of returning cast for us that we’re excited to have back and get ready to start this season. We’re in a really good place with who we have coming back, and we’re ready to go and play some great football this fall.”
